B-Side Guys

The pandemic birthed countless musical partnerships, but few demonstrate the voltage that courses through Child Seat’s latest single. “Heart to Heart” arrives as the newest offering from the LA-based duo’s third full-length, crystallizing their artistic thesis with newfound urgency.

The track opens with surgical precision—an immediate establishment of rhythm that functions less as introduction and more as declaration. This is music that knows exactly what it wants, mirroring the lyrical directness that follows: “I don’t wanna do this dance/I miss the spark/miss the romance.” Madeleine Mathews delivers these words with a vocal approach that balances vulnerability and command, bringing texture to emotional frustration.

What distinguishes Child Seat from their contemporaries is their calculated fusion of decades. While many bands mine the 1980s for aesthetic inspiration, this duo—formed by Mathews and producer/instrumentalist Josiah Mazzaschi—integrates these influences at a molecular level. The production simultaneously evokes vintage synth patterns while maintaining contemporary sonic clarity, creating temporal displacement that enhances the song’s emotional landscape.

The composition cleverly builds physical desire into its very structure. The chorus progression—”Eye to eye/Lips to lips/Heart to heart/Hips to hips”—maps a literal descent down the body, transforming anatomical inventory into emotional cartography. This lyrical device pairs perfectly with the track’s rhythmic insistence, creating musical foreplay that never quite reaches resolution.

Most revealing is the bridge, where isolation becomes physically mapped across domestic space: “I am alone in my house (my house)/I am alone in my head (my head).” The parenthetical echoes function not as mere repetition but as spatial markers, expanding loneliness into three dimensions. This section provides crucial negative space before the final chorus returns with renewed urgency.

For a duo whose credentials include collaborations with indie rock royalty—Mazzaschi has worked with Jesus and Mary Chain, Rilo Kiley, and Smashing Pumpkins members—”Heart to Heart” demonstrates remarkable restraint. Every element serves the emotional narrative; the production decisions prioritize storytelling over technical showmanship.

The heartbeat motif that runs throughout (“Bu-dum dum ba-dum”) transforms biological rhythm into musical element—a clever integration that blurs the boundary between subject and method. Like the best work from influences they’ve cited (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blondie), Child Seat has crafted something that functions equally well in headphones or on dance floors, proving that emotional excavation and physical movement need not be mutually exclusive.